Marriage vote in 2012

Labor advocates for marriage equality have announced that a private members bill to reform the Marriage Act will be moved from within Labor ranks when Parliament resumes next year.

Port Adelaide MP Mark Butler (pictured) and Senator Doug Cameron announced that Throsby MP Stephen Jones would put forward a bill to legalise same-sex marriage and called on supporters of marriage equality to start lobbying Liberal and National Party politicians so that a conscience vote would pass on cross party support.

Earlier in the day delegates at the conference voted to amend the ALP platform to include support for marriage equality, and came close to requiring a binding vote on the issue by politicians.

A motion moved by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and seconded by Defence Minister Stephen Smith was narrowly passed 208 to 184.

The vote to add marriage equality to the platform was so overwhelming that it passed on voices alone.

Butler and Cameron made the announcement in front of the largest LGBTI rights rally the country has seen in years, with more than 12,000 people marching from Hyde Park to Darling Harbour where it was almost standing room only around the Sydney Conference and Exhibition Centre.

Following the conference the Greens announced that they will introduce their marriage equality bill, with Greens MP Adam Bandt indicating he will seek to have the bill co-sponsored by Labor, Coalition and other MPs from the cross benches.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will also move to have a vote on the issue in the Senate when Parliament resumes.

In related news a protest held by opponents of marriage equality in Martin Place was attended by less than a hundred people.

Sure this is far from perfect but it is a huge step forward. Conscience votes can be won but each individual vote has to be won. Butler was right in saying that the lib/nats now have to be lobbied. But don’t think it is all up to the organisations to lobby. There is great power in the individual letter with a personal story to pollies. More so than meetings with lobbyists. Lettters from you, from straight friends, from your parents and grandparents.There is a real opportunity to get this finished. I know I have my pen poised.

IT is time for members of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA)Union to tell their executive to get lost in no uncertain terms and QUIT THE UNION. They should wirte tot the ACTU that they want an alternative union to represent them. Joe De Bruyen and his appauling speech the the Labor Conference shows he is not representative of his unions membership. There is nothing like ‘Pulling the Cash’ to make the trade unions sit up and listen.

Abbott and Turnbull have recently praised the Victorian Liberal Party Attorney General who told parliament “I believe homosexual practices form a destructive way of life, destructive to the individual and destructive also to other individuals who are brought into that way of life. I suppose it is most readily demonstrable at a physical level; it is a physical fact that the human body is not designed for many homosexual practices and it is clear that physical problems follow from those practices.” Mr Clark went on to quote a student medical text stating that homosexual male pedophiles commonly reported molesting hundreds of victims, while heterosexual pedophiles “molest only a few”.

I am just not with this idea that the birth of people due to their sexuality should be made punishment.

ben, you had better check the media more closely. Andrew Wilkie the Member for Denison said that he would second any Marriage Equality Bill put up by the Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt! Wilkie supports Marriage Equality! But all is lost because of the Labor conscience vote today! You have advocated a conscience vote all along and it is going to be a HUGE faliure!

Can’t wait to re-email the likes of Jacinta Collins again. They can’t hide behind that one liner anymore that it’s party policy that marriage is between man and woman only …their policy has changed, what’s she going to say now?

ben, I am not wrong! I said if you can read, “unless the Coalition agree to a conscience vote as well” If Labor had not voted for a conscience vote, the Labor+Greens have the vote in the Senate! No Coalition would be needed there, In the House , Labor + Bandt + Wilkie would almost get the vote over the line! Windsor and Oakshotte + the Speaker COULD win the day! Slipper despises the Noalition and it would be very interesting if he was pursued on the subject of Marriage Equality. So dear old ben who has a personal grudge against me and writes any old thing that is opposite to me , you are wrong, especially with the facts that a Labor + Greens vote would win the day straight away in the Senate and the House is almost there with some encouragement of a few members who despise the Liberals/Nationals!

@Brenty
Thx Benty
Its total Marie Antionette stuff.
Lets the gay peasants eat cake. This has effectively stalled any reform, its just piss in the wind Labor b/s designed to say ‘hey look wot we’ve done 4 u’ And naturally we should be so grateful for crumbs at the table.
Reality check-ZERO movement on marriage equality
And NOT once did this red head 2 faced piece of shit for a PM mention the words ‘gay lesbian bi trans’ in her speech cause she’s SO concerned about the deep offence caused to the Christian right , not the fact of immense amounts of discriminations metted out to gay ppl. on a daily basis by the christain freaks.
What a horror of a human being she is.
I hope she gets wotz cumming 2 her and they roll her arse outta the lodge quick smart …lol..along with the hairdresser bf.
Hollywood couldnt make this womans life up its so unbeleivable along with her ‘conservative?!’ views.

I have to agree with Brenty – this is not great news when you look at the numbers. It’s a step closer to equality, but not one that ALP senators should get too excited about. They have their work cut out for them in convincing opposing thinkers to cross the floor when the private members’ bill is raised, and it’s their success or failure at this that will ultimately define them in the final analysis. I applaud their courage, but knowing the approach of some of these Senators with politicians of other persuasions, I don’t think they have the negotiation skills to pull it off. I think they honestly thought they had the numbers to roll any thoughts of a conscience vote today, and they are a little shocked that they have to get out now and do some real work on the issue. Best of luck boys, and don’t you bloody well give up when it gets a bit hard!

It is simple, there are not the numbers for the legislation to pass, unless the Coalition agree to a conscience vote as well. The Gillard cronies at the conference, all 208 of them, have ensured ‘Marriage Equality’ is not going to happen in this Parliament or Australia for many, many years ahead! The ALP know this, everyone knows this and after the vote in Parliament there will be only one party who will have voted ‘totally’ for “Marriage Equality’ and that is the Australian Greens. The Catholic Labor MPs will vote against the bill, ensuring it’s demise!
The Australian Christian Lobby are going to have the last laugh because they have Abbott and Truss totally in their control!
Those ALP delegates who voted for ‘Marriage Equality’ did not look very happy because they know the reality of not only the numbers within the Parliamentary Party but that only the usual ALP , voting as a block on policy, can possibly carry ‘Marriage Equality’ through.
Today’s event was depressing and sobering!